DONS SET GOALS, WIN REGIONAL TITLE

The Top 25 national acknowledgment. The Top 10 state ranking. The No. 1 CIF San Diego Section distinction.

“But all the rankings, the lofty outside expectations and everything, we don’t get caught up in that,” Lee said.

“It’s really people that are deciding that, people that have never even seen us play or those basing our placement off of last season’s results. As much as we recognize it and want it, we make goals for ourselves, team goals, at the beginning of the year. That’s what kept us focused on the task the whole time.”

Surprisingly, Cathedral Catholic, a program that had hoisted the Division III crown four times since 2006 before the start of this season, started small. Frankly, not so ambitious for a team consistently chasing and winning championships.

“Western League,” said Lee. “We hadn’t won Western League in five years. That was our initial big goal.”

Of course, so was another championship crown. However, dethroning Coronado was just as important as anything else. That campaign, though, took a hit early. La Jolla, who outlasted Cathedral Catholic in penalties to capture their fourth title two years ago, defeated them 2-1 in their first encounter.

That was the wake-up call, or the defining moment of the season, according to Lee.

“Even though we had achieved a great deal of success early in the season through tournaments and other matches, we learned we couldn’t just show up,” she said. “We had to play regardless or we will find ourselves in a tough position. Teams will always play their best against us.”

Eight games later, the Dons swept through opponents, finishing the remainder of the season undefeated and finally checking off an oft-alluded achievement — a Western League title.

Next up: repeating as Division III section champions. The odds were against them, trailing rival La Jolla in penalties 3-1 and on the verge of being disappointed, but Cathedral Catholic found a way, or found some luck.

The Vikings missed their two final attempts. The Dons regained their composure and nailed four consecutive to overcome the deficit. Ballgame.

Fast forward to Friday’s victory over Chaminade. Again, the Dons found themselves backed up against the wall — thanks to themselves. An own goal dropped them behind at halftime, but the Dons never quit. They scorched Chaminade for three second-half goals to become the sole San Diego-area Southern California Regional champion.

Eleven boys and girls San Diego-area teams entered the tournament, vying for a regional championship for the section — the first girls title since Torrey Pines defeated Bullard and Coronado beat La Jolla in 2011 — but only one stood standing.

Fate? Maybe. That’s how Lee attempts to partially explain pulling off 13 consecutive victories and winning their first regional championship since defeating Granite Hills 3-1 five years ago.

“We’ve beat teams that we never beat and so maybe all the stars were aligned for us, but this team has sacrificed, or as we say, soccerficed,” Lee said.

“They were going to do everything that they could to battle, to continue winning matches and when we got to the regionals, we said, ‘Hey, let’s go for it, let’s see if we can win it all.’ ”